Molded structures with channels

Abstract

At times, devices, such as semiconductor devices, may be attached to molded structures. The molded structure may have through holes or channels through which fluids and gasses (among other things) may travel, A number of processes exist for creating molded structures with through holes or channels. For instance, build up processes, such as lithography on dry film, may be used to create molded structures with through holes or channels. Substrate bonding and/or welding may also be used to yield molded structures with through holes or channels.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A device comprising:
 a molded structure comprising thermo-electric traces and channels; the channels between ten μm and two hundred μm, or less in one dimension; 
 a fluid recirculation channel; and 
 a dependent device coupled to the molded structure and comprising apertures corresponding to the channels and through which fluids, electromagnetic radiation, or a combination thereof is to travel, the dependent device also comprising contacts corresponding to the thermo-electric traces of the molded structure. 
 
     
     
       2. The device of  claim 1  comprising:
 a second dimension for the channels, the second dimension corresponding to a channel height and the one dimension corresponding to a channel width; 
 wherein the second dimension comprises between one hundred μm and five hundred μm. 
 
     
     
       3. The device of  claim 1  comprising:
 a channel spacing of between one hundred μm and five hundred μm. 
 
     
     
       4. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the dependent device comprises a fluidic die with ejection nozzles. 
     
     
       5. The device of  claim 4  comprising a nozzle-to-nozzle spacing of between one hundred μm and five hundred μm. 
     
     
       6. The device of  claim 1  comprising a recirculation component to enable recirculation of fluids within the fluid recirculation channel. 
     
     
       7. A method of fabricating a chip package, the method comprising:
 applying a molding compound on or over or over a structure comprising sacrificial traces; 
 removing a portion of the molding compound to expose the sacrificial traces; and 
 removing the sacrificial traces to produce channels within the molding compound. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein a first dimension of the traces is within a range of approximately ten μm to approximately two hundred μm, or less. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7  further comprising depositing the structure comprising sacrificial traces on or over a support layer. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the removing the portion of the molding compound comprises removal by surface grinding. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 applying a layer of photoresist around the chip package; and 
 etching a portion of the support layer. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the structure comprising sacrificial traces comprises a lead frame or metal build up layer. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the molding compound comprises an epoxy molding compound (EMC). 
     
     
       14. A fluidic device comprising:
 a unitary epoxy molding compound (EMC) package having embedded fluidic channels having a dimension of less than 200 μm and further comprising embedded thermo-electrically conductive traces; and 
 a fluidic die attached to the EMC package, the fluidic die thermo-electrically coupled to the embedded thermos-electrically conductive traces and fluidically coupled to the embedded fluidic channels. 
 
     
     
       15. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the molded structure is a unitary structure comprising the thermo-electric traces and the channels. 
     
     
       16. The fluidic device of  claim 14 , wherein the fluidic die includes ejection nozzles. 
     
     
       17. The fluidic device of  claim 14 , wherein the EMC package includes a fluid recirculation channel. 
     
     
       18. The fluidic device of  claim 17 , further comprising a recirculation component to enable recirculation of fluids within the fluid recirculation channel. 
     
     
       19. The fluidic device of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a second dimension for the channels, the second dimension corresponding to a channel height and the one dimension corresponding to a channel width. 
 
     
     
       20. The fluidic device of  claim 19 , wherein the second dimension comprises between one hundred μm and five hundred μm.